The workflow is trivial once automated:
chdman extractcd -i game.chd -o game.cue Then re-zip the resulting .cue and .bin files using 7-Zip. Q1: Will converting my ZIP to CHD delete the original? No. chdman creates a new .chd file. You must delete the original ZIP manually if you want to save space.
| Emulator | CHD Support | Best For | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Native (created it) | Arcade, home computers | | RetroArch (Beetle PSX/HW) | Full | PlayStation 1 | | DuckStation | Full | PlayStation 1 (Recommended) | | PCSX2 (nightly) | Partial / Experimental | PlayStation 2 | | Redream | Full | Dreamcast | | Genesis Plus GX | Full | Sega CD | | Ares | Full | Multiple disc systems | | Dolphin | No (use GCZ or RVZ) | GameCube/Wii | Convert Zip To Chd
Absolutely none. CHD uses lossless compression for game data and lossless FLAC for CD audio. Your game will be bit-for-bit identical to the original disc.
Originally developed by the MAME team for hard drive and CD-ROM compression, CHD has become the gold standard for compressing PS1, Sega CD, TurboGrafx-CD, and Dreamcast games. But what if you have a library full of .zip files (each containing a .bin / .cue or .iso pair) and want to convert them to .chd ? The workflow is trivial once automated: chdman extractcd
chdman createcd -i game.cue -o game.chd -c cdlz (CD LZMA) # Balanced chdman createcd -i game.cue -o game.chd -c lzma (Generic) # Smallest, slowest If you have an old CHD (version 1-3), update it to version 5 for better performance:
chdman createcd -i "Lunar - Eternal Blue (USA).cue" -o "Lunar - Eternal Blue (USA).chd" Use this syntax for (common for some PS1 rips): chdman creates a new
| Feature | ZIP | CHD | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Generic Deflate | Hunk-level, sector-based | | Multi-track support | Requires multiple files (BIN/CUE) | Single-file container | | Audio compression | None (WAV inside ZIP is huge) | Lossless FLAC for CD audio | | Space savings | Moderate (20–30%) | High (40–60%+ for CD audio) | | Streaming | Must decompress entire archive | Seekable & streamable | | Metadata/Error corr. | No | Yes (checksums) |